Are you looking for ways to creatively upskill in a STEM career?

If you are getting bored of run-of-the-mill training, why not spice it up with an alternative method?

Workplace upskilling is absolutely crucial to anyone looking to have a long-running and interesting career, as without it you run the risk of stagnating in your role. But often, standardised training can be dull and may even deter you from continuing as you simply have too much to do and the last thing you want is to pile on more mundane tasks. 

But instead of throwing the baby out without the bath water, why not consider taking up a less traditional training regiment, so you can continue your upskilling journey without adding unnecessary pressures to your day. Here are some unique ways to do just that.

Personal projects 

Upskilling is a great opportunity to not only work on the aspects of your career that you find most appealing, but to also make professional advancements. This can be achieved by fine-tuning your skills while simultaneously working on your own projects or research initiatives. 

This could be learning a new programming language, new methods of software design, website building, studying changes in STEM-related regulation, or literally anything that you would like to know more about, that has the potential to advance your career. 

Dive into a virtual world

Some new technologies are a fad (looking at you Google Glass), but others, while appearing gimmicky initially, have real potential to change how we live and work. Virtual and augmented reality devices are a fun, immersive and unique medium through which employees can upskill, learn and genuinely enjoy the experience.

By creating a world around yourself that mimics real-life scenarios but carries no real-world risks, the extent of your experimentation – especially in dangerous or sensitive industries – is safe and virtually limitless. Here you can make mistakes and grow without incurring consequences.

Additionally, it can be personalised to the user, meaning the chances of it not aligning with your goals, or becoming boring, are reduced. 

Puzzles, podcasts and posts

In that vein of games and unique experiences, STEM-themed activities and puzzles that require skills such as programming, critical thinking, team work, software development and more, are a brilliant way to upskill in an environment and manner that doesn’t feel like work. 

Additionally, active discourse can really give you the opportunity to brainstorm new ideas and flesh out the existing ones. So if you feel like you want to welcome new adventures and to share what you know, social media can be a vehicle through which you open up a whole new world to explore and analyse. 

A STEM-based podcast or YouTube channel, or perhaps a series on LinkedIn, where you chart your upskilling journey and engage in conversation with other industry figures, could be a novel way of tracking and improving your own skills. 

Certainly it will build upon your communication and presentation abilities, as well as how you engage with complex topics, your analytic skills and how you build relationships. 

Consider trading experiences

Mentorship from a trusted or respected colleague can be an ideal way to work on your skills, but if you aim to improve your soft skills – for example if you have leadership ambitions – reverse mentorship can also be useful. 

This is where you take stock of your skills and mentor a colleague who may have more experience or a higher title than you. The idea is that they can share their anecdotes of success and the tips and tricks that got them to where they are, while you upskill them on a subject they are less familiar with.

In time you will likely notice a natural improvement in your own abilities, for example in how you present or teach a topic, the way you communicate, how you delegate and even in time keeping. 

Establish your own group

We all learn and retain information differently, but there is a lot to be said for group-based learning, where you have the opportunity to pose questions, share your thoughts and widen your network. 

If there is a particular subject you would appreciate training on, but your company doesn’t currently have a module designed to teach it, why not see if you can set one up. Ask your employer about available resources, find someone qualified to offer the training, enquire as to others who have a similar interest and get going. 

You could wait forever for an organisation to realise there is a gap in skills training, so it benefits everyone for an employee to bring it to the attention of those in charge. 

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